


Discriminating judgement

by elaiel



Series: PHSE [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Discrimination, Gen, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 03:38:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6687667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elaiel/pseuds/elaiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hulk overhears a word he does not understand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discriminating judgement

“Clint?” Hulk stomped over.  
“Hi, Big guy.” Clint finished cable-tying the woman’s hands together and hauled her to her feet to march her over to where her compatriots were being loaded into a SHIELD van.  
Hulk was carrying a man, surprisingly alive considering he had received a ballistic Hulk to the chest. Hulk put the unconscious man down carefully on the floor.  
Hulk turned away from the man and looked down at Clint. “Clint, what nigger?”  
Clint turned around, unsure what he had actually heard. “Huh?”  
“What nigger mean?”  
Clint paused, surprised. “Where did you hear that?”  
Hulk scowled. “What nigger?” He insisted, keeping pace with Clint as Clint walked back towards the Quinjet.  
“It’s a nasty word for someone with dark skin.”  
“Like Fury and Fal-con?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And Rho-dey Tony friend?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And Hulk?”  
“No, only people with brown skin, not green. People whose families, sometimes long ago, came from Africa.”  
Hulk nodded his big head thoughtfully, pushing back tangled locks of hair that fell into his face.  
“Hulk been to Africa. Big. Hot. El-e-phants. People most brown.” Hulk considered a moment. “People smell same. Act same. Shoot at Hulk.” He shrugged.  
Clint reached into the Quinjet and pulled out a couple of bottles of sports drink. He handed one to Hulk who put the bottle in his mouth, bit it to pop it, swallowed the drink and spat the crushed bottle carefully into his hand. Clint took a sip from his own bottle.  
“Why people say nasty nigger word?” Hulk asked, looking confused.  
Clint shrugged and handed Hulk another drink. “Because people sometimes don’t like people who don’t look like them.”  
Hulk popped the second bottle with his mouth then put both crushed bottles into the trash bag that Clint held out.  
“Say it like don’t like Fury.” Hulk said. “Say ‘stupid nigger send us on goose chase’ “  
Scowling, Hulk accepted a handful of granola bars from Clint. He peeled one, holding it between finger tips so as not to squash it.  
“Hulk not understand.” He said around a mouthful of granola. “Nasty people not like diff’rent colour? Not like brown?”  
Clint shrugged “’S not the colour really.” He sat down on the edge of the Quinjet’s hatch and unwrapped his own granola bar. “It’s more they think people that aren’t white, aren’t people same colour as me or Cap or Tony or Banner...”  
Hulk growled, but Clint continued.  
“...people that aren’t white, that they aren’t as good as white people.”  
Hulk looked even more confused. “How they know?”  
Clint shrugged again. “They just believe it. ‘S no evidence. Scientists like Dr Banner, Dr Cho, they’ve looked at science things and say it’s not true, that all people are all the same inside.”  
“Hmmm.” Hulk hummed thoughtfully. “Hngh!” The hum turned into a growl.  
“Hulk?”  
“Is okay to say nigger?”  
Clint shook his head. “No, it’s not okay.” He looked up sideways at Hulk through the choppy fringe of his bangs. “ ‘S not okay and it’s against SHIELD policies. SHIELD says everyone is equal, everyone can help save the world. You tell Coulson and he’ll reprimand them, tell them off.  
“Hulk not smash? Is SHIELD agents.” He appeared to be thinking something through.  
Before Clint could react, Hulk was shambling off at a heavy trot, making for a cluster of science team members. Clint sprinted after him.  
“Awww, Hulk no!”  
By the time he got there, Hulk had singled out two of the science staff and hoisted them into the air by the back of their clothes.  
“Nasty!” Hulk growled at them, then turned to Clint. “You...fil-um Hulk words for Agent.”  
There was a sudden smell of urine.  
Clint pulled his Starkphone out from an inner pocket of his tac-vest.  
“Okay big guy.” He started filming. “You can say your stuff now.”  
Hulk nodded. He waved one of the scientists at the camera. The scientist flailed wildly and shouted in terror.  
“Hulk see and hear him and...” He proffered the other scientist, who appeared to be frozen with terror, towards Clint and the camera. “...this him say Fury stupid nigger send them on goose chase. Hulk not like this. Hulk no smash SHIELD so Hulk want someone else to say them no, make them SORRY!” The last word was a roar.  
Hulk lifted each of them to the camera again to make sure the camera saw both faces then dropped them on the floor and stalked off back to the Quinjet.  
“You two,” Clint said conversationally to the two terrified scientists collapsed on the floor as he mailed the video to Coulson and Human Resources, “have had a really fucking lucky escape.”


End file.
